1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hospital gurneys used for transporting patients about in a hospital and for transferring patients between the gurney and a hospital bed, examination table, or the like. More particularly, the above invention relates to a rollable hospital gurney including a laterally outwardly shiftable patient conveyor coupled thereto, and a laterally outwardly shiftable support plate coupled below the conveyor for resting on the surface of the hospital bed or the like and for supporting the conveyor when extended laterally outwardly from the gurney.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Effective treatment of non-ambulatory hospital patients often requires that the patient be transported within the hospital from place to place at various times. For example, a patient may need to be transported between an operating table and a hospital bed, examination table, and or the like. Patients are usually transported between these various locations using a conventional fixed-bed rollable hospital gurney. To use such a gurney, it is typically necessary for at least two and as may as six or more attendants to bodily lift or slide or in some cases roll the patient between the gurney and the hospital bed, for example.
This kind of manhandling of non-ambulatory patients is typically uncomfortable for the patient and may even be determental to the patient's condition depending upon the nature of the patient's injury or illness. Furthermore, the additional labor required makes patient transfer a labor intensive process and may cause delays while a sufficient number of attendants are coordinated to lift a patient between the hospital gurney and the hospital bed, for example.
The prior art discloses various hospital gurney improvement devices intended to minimize patient discomfort and labor requirements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,979 discloses a hospital gurney having a rectangular endless conveyor belt coupled with and laterally extendable from the gurney in which the conveyor belt is cantilevered over a hospital bed. The cantilevered conveyor belt is supported by a mechanically complex coupling arrangement including telescoping guide rails.
Another example of the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 1,829,274 which illustrates a gurney equipped with a rigid table surface or apron which is transversely slidable relative to the upper frame of the gurney in which the apron can be extended over a hospital bed. In use, attendants must slide the patient along the apron when transferring to or from the gurney.
As illustrated by the above discussion, the known devices in the prior art disclose complex mechanical structures which are only partially effective in minimizing patient discomfort and labor requirements when transferring a patient to and from a hospital gurney. Accordingly, the prior art reveals a need for a hospital gurney which is mechanically simple with which one attendant can conveniently and safely transfer a patient to and from the gurney.